how did president obama weighed down by a jobless rate higher than any incumbent seeking re-election since fdr win 323 electoral votes, sweep 8 of 9 battleground seats? as the republican party picks up the pieces and looks ahead to 2016, here are lessons hopefuls from both parties might want to keep mind. if you don't define yourself, your opponent will do it for you. romney let the president's early attacks on his personal wealth and business background go largely unanswered. romney's campaign argued after a long and expensive primary, they had to choose how to spend at the time, limited funds, and they had to claim it was better than defenses of his personal record. in the end, obama beat romney by ten points. on the economic values question that was this, which candidate is more in touch with people like you. 53% said romney's polauolicies d favor the rich. just 10% said that about the president's policies. and romney, the first republican nominee in the history of our poll to go into a convention with his personal rating under water and campaign with a painful number, just 47% of